However, it never included a specific strategy to tackle feral cats, which attack and kill native wildlife and spread toxoplasmosis in their faeces which threatens endangered dolphins.
"We've always danced around the issue or the "cat-shaped hole" in the Predator Free 2050 mission," Predator Free New Zealand Trust chief executive Jessi Morgan said.
"The evidence that feral cats are devastating predators, preying on birds, bats, and lizards found nowhere else on earth, is well documented and understood.
"But cats have existed in a strange no-man's land. Devastating biodiversity, but largely untouchable because of their close link to beloved pets."
No longer. After a 2023 election promise and more than 90 per cent of support from a consultation process, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced this month feral cats would be added to the target species list.
"We know people want their local reserves, beaches and bush tracks to be full of birds, not predators," Mr Potaka said.
"Including feral cats in the Predator Free 2050 goal means stronger protection for local wildlife, better tools for communities, and less impact on farmers, wh�nau (family) and our economy."
As shown by their national nickname, New Zealanders are besotted by native birds.
New Zealand was completely free of mammals - save for a few bat species - until the arrival of Maori and European settlers from the 14th century.
The arrival of animals, both accidentally and intentionally, with those settlers drove the extinction of dozens of endemic bird species, including moa, huia, ducks, adzebills and the mighty Haast's eagle.
Invasive species threaten many others, particularly the flightless kiwi, kakapo and takahe.
There are many conservation efforts aimed at building back populations across the country.
Save The Kiwi's Operation Nest Egg hatches and rears kiwi chicks in captivity before releasing them into predator-free areas, while Capital Kiwi maintains a network of hundreds of traps around Wellington to support a fledgling wild kiwi population.
However, every program requires the reduction of predators like the feral cat for populations to flourish again in the wild.
Ms Morgan said the moment was "quietly monumental" and "a bit surreal for those of us in conservation who have been banging the cat drum for years".
"There are moments in conservation where you can feel the tide turning," she said.
"Including feral cats in the Predator Free 2050 target species will not solve the problem overnight but it finally puts us all on the same page."
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